Spine diseases are a major cause of chronic disability in the adult working population and a common reason for referral to the medical center. Some conditions are considered as a part of aging, and neck and back pain are one of life’s most common infirmities. But there are many potential sources of pain, and finding the specific cause is often a confounding problem for both patient and doctor.
Pain can originate from bone, joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves and intervertebral disks, as well as other paravertebral tissues. Most neck and back pain responds to conservative therapy, but if the pain is unrelenting, severe, or associated with a radiculopathy or myelopathy, further diagnostics and treatment are necessary, sometimes including microinvasive surgery.